I carefully crafted a Scripture lesson for my church youth group. After I presented it, a young man in the group said, “I believe you could have done a better job.” I was hurt. But then I recalled a phrase once spoken by a longtime worker in the church: “We call ourselves servants of God, but when we’re treated like one we get upset.”
It’s hard to avoid being affected by others’ opinions of us. A pastor wants to know if his sermons are hitting the mark. A young woman wonders if her ministry is meeting the needs of the poor she’s serving. While personal appraisals can help us improve, they shouldn’t be the primary benchmark in validating what we do.
The apostle Paul had a clear perspective that he was a servant of Jesus. He used the less common Greek word hypêrétês for servants in 1 Corinthians 4:1. This word means an under-rower, a figure taken from the galley ships of the time. In other words, he saw himself as a lowly servant.
As such, Paul didn’t focus on how well the Corinthians or anyone else thought he was carrying out his duties or how popular or unpopular he was. His personal evaluations of his own performance were irrelevant (1 Corinthians 4:3). What did matter to him was God’s estimation of his service. He concentrated on doing the job God had put before him to the best of his ability. He strove to be faithful: “A person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2).
Sometimes simple faithfulness to God’s call may not result in big numbers or meeting success markers, so it’s important to fix our eyes on the One we serve—Jesus. The Lord bases His rewards on our faithfulness in simply following Him. And He gives us all we need to do so.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Mark 9:38-50
More:
Read Numbers 12:7, Colossians 1:7, 4:7, and Matthew 24:45. Notice the key character quality highlighted in these verses.
Next:
How have the opinions of others affected you recently? What would it mean for you to do your best for God’s glory and leave the results to Him?
Gary Shultz on July 25, 2015 at 6:46 am
I know we don’t view Albert Einstine a great bible teacher; however, he did have a great phrase about this. I have held this to answer the success questions. “Try not to become a man of success, but rather to become a man of value.” maybe one of the brightest things he said. I paraphrase like this, it’s not what you do it’s who you are. Failures don’t hit so hard if you continue to stand with God, who knows your heart. Thanks
Marlena Graves on July 25, 2015 at 12:09 pm
What great encouragement. It can be so hard to to free ourselves from the tyranny of others’ opinions. But like you said, in the end, it mattes what God’s thinks. God’s view of success and our views don’t always coincide.
daisymarygoldr on July 28, 2015 at 10:38 pm
“A person put in charge as a manager must be faithful”. Faithful in what? Faithful in explaining God’s mysteries (1 Corinthians 4:1).
The Lord’s servant must be faithful in sound and wholesome teaching to prevent incorrect interpretation of scripture that results in spiritual malnourishment and eventually destruction of faith.
In God’s estimation, a good job is not in carefully crafting the scripture lesson but in correctly explaining the word of truth (2 Timothy 2: 15). Paul tells Timothy to guard the word of God entrusted to him and pass on scripture truth in its pure form to others.
Also, it is not about doing the job to the best of your ability. If that’s the case then the Lord would have chosen skillful writers and motivational speakers to do His work. God does not call those who are equipped but equips those He has called.
It was the Lord who enabled Paul, because He counted him faithful (1 Timothy 1:12). And if anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies (1 Peter 4: 11).
Amid erroneous teachings, the Lord’s servant must remain faithful to teach the unadulterated word of God. Teaching the plain truth will certainly not help you win the popularity contest but God’s power is displayed. Then regardless of others opinions, it will result in the salvation and spiritual sustenance of all those who hear you.
Winn Collier on August 1, 2015 at 7:04 pm
It’s really hard sometimes, isn’t it, to hold on to the truth that we don’t live to make others happy.